Hexcel did the honeycomb thing first. They were probably some of the lightest skis ever made, and as already mentioned, not known for durability. My pal Spencer dented his on the bottom side from many hard landings after hitting every jump he could. From my ski shop days I remember what a giant pain it was to mount bindings on them. You had to use a drill bit or a nail to break away the honeycomb inside the skis after drilling them, then inject epoxy in the screw holes, and then after you screwed the bindings down you had to leave the skis upside down overnight to let the epoxy cure in order to hold the screws in. I saw more than one pair get messed up when a screw hole was slighly oversized and the epoxy leaked out all over the (usually brand new) bindings that had just been mounted!
Light and quick edge to edge. Very high energy ski for its time period. Raced them very successfully in Slalom for a couple of years. Too skittish for GS or Downhill tho’. Definitely not a ski for jumping or bumping. Used plexiglass “lifters” between ski and binding to eliminate epoxy drool. No FIS height limits then.
I must “pile on” with the Hexcels, as I had a pair. I think I would have passed on them had I known about the upside down mounting ahead of time. I well remember skiing them in Taos, for which they were not ideally suited. They were also quite noisy. They were an idea we could have done without.
I skied a pair of Hexels when I first moved to Stowe in 1977. And as mentioned by other posters above, they broke, and I left them in a dumpster by the Base Lodge at Stowe. I had nothing to compare them to, and bought on price and availability alone. Loved them despite their flaws.
Greg- I see that you have lots of the same answers. Hexcels were my first pair of good skis. I figured that the lite weight would make me a better skier-Wrong. Its a poor workman who blames his tools. I tend to keep my skis a long time (didn’t break these) but I moved on after a kid on the chair with me wanted to know where I got those cool skis since he had never seen them. That’s when I knew it was time.
Host Russ
Hexcels, Sundance, Firelight, Splittails.
Best skis ever made!
Very light and yes weight matters.
Very flexible ski.
Ski them sharp tip to tail no “tuning”
90 degrees no bevel.
Excellent on ice and hard pack, ski them less sharp for powder.
I used one pair for 22 years before the bottoms went through from stone grinding them.
If you are breaking skis you have other problems you need to deal with.
Why would you care how hard it is to mount them?
You only have to do it once.
Yes, young people have never seen or heard of them
or snow tires
or four barrel carburetors
and when shown a pencil
will ask where the charger plugs in!
So what?
January 26, 2012 at 4:15 pm
hexcel skis made with alum. honwycomb core, didnt last long due to flexing. cheers ken
January 26, 2012 at 11:29 pm
Hexcel made the first honeycomb. they broke like crazy
January 27, 2012 at 1:03 am
Hexcel did the honeycomb thing first. They were probably some of the lightest skis ever made, and as already mentioned, not known for durability. My pal Spencer dented his on the bottom side from many hard landings after hitting every jump he could. From my ski shop days I remember what a giant pain it was to mount bindings on them. You had to use a drill bit or a nail to break away the honeycomb inside the skis after drilling them, then inject epoxy in the screw holes, and then after you screwed the bindings down you had to leave the skis upside down overnight to let the epoxy cure in order to hold the screws in. I saw more than one pair get messed up when a screw hole was slighly oversized and the epoxy leaked out all over the (usually brand new) bindings that had just been mounted!
January 27, 2012 at 11:07 pm
Light and quick edge to edge. Very high energy ski for its time period. Raced them very successfully in Slalom for a couple of years. Too skittish for GS or Downhill tho’. Definitely not a ski for jumping or bumping. Used plexiglass “lifters” between ski and binding to eliminate epoxy drool. No FIS height limits then.
January 28, 2012 at 10:22 pm
I must “pile on” with the Hexcels, as I had a pair. I think I would have passed on them had I known about the upside down mounting ahead of time. I well remember skiing them in Taos, for which they were not ideally suited. They were also quite noisy. They were an idea we could have done without.
January 31, 2012 at 2:14 am
I skied a pair of Hexels when I first moved to Stowe in 1977. And as mentioned by other posters above, they broke, and I left them in a dumpster by the Base Lodge at Stowe. I had nothing to compare them to, and bought on price and availability alone. Loved them despite their flaws.
January 31, 2012 at 1:56 pm
Greg- I see that you have lots of the same answers. Hexcels were my first pair of good skis. I figured that the lite weight would make me a better skier-Wrong. Its a poor workman who blames his tools. I tend to keep my skis a long time (didn’t break these) but I moved on after a kid on the chair with me wanted to know where I got those cool skis since he had never seen them. That’s when I knew it was time.
Host Russ
November 17, 2012 at 10:02 pm
Hexcels, Sundance, Firelight, Splittails.
Best skis ever made!
Very light and yes weight matters.
Very flexible ski.
Ski them sharp tip to tail no “tuning”
90 degrees no bevel.
Excellent on ice and hard pack, ski them less sharp for powder.
I used one pair for 22 years before the bottoms went through from stone grinding them.
If you are breaking skis you have other problems you need to deal with.
Why would you care how hard it is to mount them?
You only have to do it once.
Yes, young people have never seen or heard of them
or snow tires
or four barrel carburetors
and when shown a pencil
will ask where the charger plugs in!
So what?